Preview of South Quarterfinal - Stone/Tampa

[MCL22105]

South were bags of milk as suspected. I love this site and all the insight, but it was going to be one of the big three from the north. Need to fix the system, Merrimack a six seed?

[D2fan]

South were bags of milk as suspected. I love this site and all the insight, but it was going to be one of the big three from the north. Need to fix the system, Merrimack a six seed?

I agree with you that the NE10 had the top teams this year, but the system isn't broken. Merrimack was the 6th seed because they lost to LIU Post, lost by Adelphi by 9 and didn't make it to their conference finals. It what world does that deem a high ranking? They were seeded where they should have been based on their body of work.

You couldn't put them ahead of Mercy, who beat LIU Post twice and Le Moyne.

Mercyhurst won their conference playoffs and had big wins over Seton Hill, Wingate and more importantly a dominant win over Mercy.

And my guess is that the committee chose to make Seton Hill the #5 and Merrimack the #6 to prevent Seton Hill from playing Mercyhurst for the 2nd time in 3 days.

To be honest, losing in the NE10 semi's was probably the best thing to happen to Merrimack, because they got 7 days of rest before the NCAA playoffs. Watching their game with Mercyhurst, you could tell on the live stream they were well rested, organized and fixed a lot of their problems. Compared to a tired looking Lakers team who was playing their 3rd game in 6 days.

Merrimack was a completely different team in the playoffs once they were able to win F/o's and make stops. Cronin emerged as a quality FOGO and Ponte became more consistent in goal. Both of those improvements fed their monster of an offense.

A huge credit to Morgan and his staff.

If anything the system worked, because under the rules from last year, Merrimack wouldn't have qualified.

[MCL22105]

It’s broken, Merrimack slipped up against the best FOGO in the country with their Post loss. No shame losing to Adelphi on the road. Tampa lost to perennial window lickers Assumption? It was chess vs. checkers today, very clear.

[D2fan]

It’s broken, Merrimack slipped up against the best FOGO in the country with their Post loss. No shame losing to Adelphi on the road. Tampa lost to perennial window lickers Assumption? It was chess vs. checkers today, very clear.

Where should Merrimack have been then?
And why? And please don't answer.

Also, what does Tampa/Assumption even have to do with your argument? Check the box score of that game. Tampa was without Kew and their AA defenseman. One could say they "slipped up".

By the way none of the 3 other playoff teams that played LIU Post slipped up against Farrell.

Now if you're arguing about the regions, here is my answer.

Back in the early 2000's only 2 teams made the NCAA playoffs, and that was picked by a group of D2 coaches (mostly the Tech, Adelphi, and CW. Post coaches) Pace went 13-1 and was ranked #2 in the country. They weren't chosen to go to the championship. The next year the committee decided regionalize and have a 4 team playoff.

The Long Island teams were up in arms stating that it wouldn't be fair because the best teams were on LI. 2 years later Limestone won their first National Championship. Followed by Le Moyne and Mercyhurst.

Moral of the story is that the regionalization had a major effect on the division. It was no longer dominated by the LI teams. Regionalization is one of the reasons you're seeing the parity in the South increase. Are they as good as the northern top 6/7... Probably not. But one of those other teams are eventually going to break through.

[MCL22105]

That 99 Pace team was the goods! Mayas and Wazik (pardon the spelling), possibly two of the best of all time.

That said, Post or Adelphi skull f’s them in a final that year.

The system works when Stone is decent, otherwise it’s total wood.

And did you really justify losing to Assumption because of injuries? That game is a stat padder’s paradise for anyone who can actually play.

[Pitt12]

It’s broken, Merrimack slipped up against the best FOGO in the country with their Post loss. No shame losing to Adelphi on the road. Tampa lost to perennial window lickers Assumption? It was chess vs. checkers today, very clear.

No shame losing 17-8 to Adelphi??? Wasn’t that Chess compared to checkers? Merrimack came back to beat Adelphi a couple of weeks later. System has come a long way and is not broken. Not Limestones day today.

[Pitt12]

South were bags of milk as suspected. I love this site and all the insight, but it was going to be one of the big three from the north. Need to fix the system, Merrimack a six seed?

Where you been???? Bad day for Limestone, but they still have 3 of the last 6.

[Check ur vm]

Stone didn’t have their refs

[Pitt12]

Stone didn’t have their refs

Tampa was home enjoying their Memorial Day BBQ as usual! At least Limestone didn’t lose to the perennial window lickers Assumption. Tampa has still never done anything... accept for their 5 SSC championships LOL.

[RedFromMI]

Stone didn’t have their refs

Refs were not a factor in favor for Mack - each team was man up three times - and only Limestone scored a pair on the man-up.

First EMO for Mack was Stone's best defender, second one was on the second best defender (and non-releasable). But Stone killed them all off. Only factor they had is they kept the Stone offense off the field for a bit longer. Better job was done in keeping the ball from Stone by winning a large number of faceoffs.

Also, at least two goals for Mack at the end were when Limestone had their goalie chasing a player out of the box as the game was slipping away. Not unlike a basketball game where the losing team fouls to stop the clock and then the margin just escalates as the team being fouled makes most/all the FTs.

Warriors had some issues early in the season, and finally put it together for a fantastic final run in DII. Congrats to them for the great finish!

[Laxwarrior]

Stone didn’t have their refs

Refs were not a factor in favor for Mack - each team was man up three times - and only Limestone scored a pair on the man-up.

First EMO for Mack was Stone's best defender, second one was on the second best defender (and non-releasable). But Stone killed them all off. Only factor they had is they kept the Stone offense off the field for a bit longer. Better job was done in keeping the ball from Stone by winning a large number of faceoffs.

Also, at least two goals for Mack at the end were when Limestone had their goalie chasing a player out of the box as the game was slipping away. Not unlike a basketball game where the losing team fouls to stop the clock and then the margin just escalates as the team being fouled makes most/all the FTs.

Warriors had some issues early in the season, and finally put it together for a fantastic final run in DII. Congrats to them for the great finish!

Red,
Check ur vm is still bitching about the Tampa/Limestone game!

[RedFromMI]

Stone didn’t have their refs

Refs were not a factor in favor for Mack - each team was man up three times - and only Limestone scored a pair on the man-up.

First EMO for Mack was Stone's best defender, second one was on the second best defender (and non-releasable). But Stone killed them all off. Only factor they had is they kept the Stone offense off the field for a bit longer. Better job was done in keeping the ball from Stone by winning a large number of faceoffs.

Also, at least two goals for Mack at the end were when Limestone had their goalie chasing a player out of the box as the game was slipping away. Not unlike a basketball game where the losing team fouls to stop the clock and then the margin just escalates as the team being fouled makes most/all the FTs.

Warriors had some issues early in the season, and finally put it together for a fantastic final run in DII. Congrats to them for the great finish!

Red,
Check ur vm is still bitching about the Tampa/Limestone game!

That one won't die for a least a year or two!